a natural elevation of the earth's surface, smaller than a mountain.
an incline, especially in a road.
This old jalopy won't make it up the next hill.
an artificial heap, pile, or mound.
a hill made by ants.
a small mound of earth raised about a cultivated plant or a cluster of such plants.
the plant or plants so surrounded.
a hill of potatoes.
Baseball. mound.
the Hill. Capitol Hill.
to surround with hills.
to hill potatoes.
to form into a hill or heap.
go over the hill,
to break out of prison.
to absent oneself without leave from one's military unit.
to leave suddenly or mysteriously.
Rumor has it that her husband has gone over the hill.
over the hill,
relatively advanced in age.
past one's prime.
Ambrose Powell 1825–65, Confederate general in the U.S. Civil War.
Archibald Vivian 1886–1977, English physiologist: Nobel Prize in Medicine 1922.
James Jerome, 1838–1916, U.S. railroad builder and financier, born in Canada.
Joe, 1879–1915, U.S. labor organizer and songwriter, born in Sweden.
a conspicuous and often rounded natural elevation of the earth's surface, less high or craggy than a mountain
( in combination )
a hillside
a hilltop
a heap or mound made by a person or animal
( in combination )
a dunghill
an incline; slope
informal beyond one's prime
slang military absent without leave or deserting
strenuously and persistently
to form into a hill or mound
to cover or surround with a mound or heap of earth
Archibald Vivian. 1886–1977, British biochemist, noted for his research into heat loss in muscle contraction: shared the Nobel prize for physiology or medicine (1922)
Damon Graham Devereux, son of Graham Hill. born 1960, British motor-racing driver; Formula One world champion (1996)
David Octavius 1802–70, Scottish painter and portrait photographer, noted esp for his collaboration with the chemist Robert Adamson (1821–48)
Sir Geoffrey ( William ). born 1932, British poet: his books include King Log (1968), Mercian Hymns (1971), The Mystery of the Charity of Charles Péguy (1983), and The Orchards of Syon (2002)
Graham. 1929–75, British motor-racing driver: world champion (1962, 1968)
Octavia. 1838–1912, British housing reformer; a founder of the National Trust
Sir Rowland. 1795–1879, British originator of the penny postage
Susan ( Elizabeth ). born 1942, British novelist and writer of short stories: her books include I'm the King of the Castle (1970) The Woman in Black (1983), and Felix Derby (2002)
before 1000; Middle English; Old English hyll; cognate with Middle Dutch hille, Latin collis hill; compare Latin culmen top, peak ( see column, culminate), celsus lofty, very high, Gothic hallus rock, Lithuanian kálnas mountain, Greek kolōnós hill, kolophṓn summit ( see colophon)
A hill is a high ridge or mound of land, not as tall as a mountain. A house on a hill has a great view of the surrounding countryside, and very little chance of being flooded. You can hike or drive up a hill — a gentle upward slope, in either case. An accidental or deliberate mound of stuff is another kind of hill, like a hill of snow in your yard, or a hill of trash at the dump. What's considered a hill in mountainous India — a height of up to 10,000 feet — is absolutely a mountain in Great Britain, where a hill is defined as an elevation of less than 2,000 feet.
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Home to more than 115,000 residents, Manshiyet Nasser is a predominantly Coptic Christian neighbourhood nestled beneath the Mokattam hill and facing Cairo's historic Citadel.
From Barron's ● Jul. 18, 2026
Universal placed speakers on the old special effects and stunt buildings to see how ride screams traveled down the hill.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 17, 2026
“Don’t fix something that isn’t broken,” said Ginger Wallis, 50 years old, who lives at the base of a hill covered in flammable grass, her eyes flashing.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 15, 2026
He is the loudest possible proof that you do not need a gun to be the bravest man on the hill.
From Salon ● Jul. 15, 2026
When I reach the top of the last hill of the course, I yell out, “I’m going to run a half-marathon!”
From "Keeping Pace" by Laurie Morrison
Since taking the top job at Nike about two years ago, Chief Executive Elliott Hill has been working to pivot the company back to performance footwear, a more durable category than fad-prone lifestyle sneakers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026
Dairy farmers have also been known to stage protests - complete with tractors and cattle on Parliament Hill - when faced with possible concessions in trade talks.
From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026
“Government seed deposits move on government time,” said Jeff Judge of Chesapeake Financial Planners in Forest Hill, Md.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 23, 2026
They also discuss the rare appearance of Supreme Court Justices Elena Kagan and Amy Coney Barrett on Capitol Hill to request more money for a major security overhaul for SCOTUS.
From Slate ● Jul. 23, 2026
He told them about the dark giant, and the strange woman on Half-Blood Hill, offering him a multiple-choice death.
From "The House of Hades" by Rick Riordan
SAN FRANCISCO—In the months after Sam Kirchner disappeared in November, Matthew Hall searched for him on city streets where homeless live and in wooded hills where campers hide away.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 12, 2026
They wander among the houses -- painted mostly in shades of white, yellow or brown -- and go biking or hiking in the surrounding hills of central Slovakia.
From Barron's ● Jul. 3, 2026
“Set against a backdrop of rolling hills, this thoughtfully upgraded residence delivers a lifestyle defined by comfort, connection, and effortless indoor-outdoor flow,” the listing notes.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 2, 2026
Before her death in 1993, Mabel McKay — one of the last living dreamers of the Pomo Indian people — shared a prophecy while driving through the Sonoma hills.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 24, 2026
“I said to myself, ‘Duane, hills or mountains or icebergs do not talk.’
From "The Very, Very Far North" by Dan Bar-el
Master of the games of the fair hilled Taillten, King of Tara of a hundred conflicts; Chief of Fodla the noble, Aed of Oileac who died too soon.
From Ireland, Historic and Picturesque by Johnston, Charles
There was little work for Paul to do in the village; but he kept their own garden in good trim,—the onion-bed clear of weeds, and the potatoes well hilled.
From Winning His Way by Coffin, Charles Carleton
Dusty and weary, but in excellent spirits over the large space that he and the hired man had "hilled up," he went whistling home through the long shadows of the June evening.
From Without a Home by Roe, Edward Payson
This frame is placed with the small end down at the point where the seeds are to be planted, and the earth is hilled up about it and firmly packed with the feet.
From Manual of Gardening (Second Edition) by Bailey, L. H. (Liberty Hyde)
At the end of the second season the vines should be pruned to about three eyes or buds, and the soil hilled up around them so as to cover them up completely.
From The Cultivation of The Native Grape, and Manufacture of American Wines by Husmann, George
That hilling up promotes leeks with longer white shanks.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 31, 2024
Prevailing industry practices often involve the concentrated application of fertilizers during the planting or hilling phases, particularly in Atlantic Canada.
From Salon ● Nov. 28, 2023
He mentions that the Potawatomi word for “hill” is a verb: “Hills are always in the process of hilling, they are actively being hills.”
From New York Times ● May 27, 2020
On an afternoon in March, Loïc Gouzer, a specialist in contemporary art at Christie’s New York, attended a hilling session to survey several works that had been secured for an upcoming auction.
From The New Yorker ● Jun. 27, 2016
The work of handling or hilling must be done only when the celery is dry and unfrozen.
From Farm Gardening with Hints on Cheap Manuring Quick Cash Crops and How to Grow Them by Anonymous
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
